Zero Zero Escape
by Madcinder
Summary: Nagisa wakes up in an elevator with a total stranger, and is told she only has a short time to get out before the elevator falls. What awaits her outside? Will she be able to escape a deathtrap game where one wrong move could mean the end? Who is behind it all, and what do they hope to achieve? Based on and inspired by the game Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.
1. Welcome To The Nonary Game

_Nagisa lay awake in bed, thinking over the argument she'd had with her father at dinner. It was all she could think about. Her friends Orine and Yuka were planning on leaving Lancastar to join AKB0048. Naturally, Nagisa wanted to join them, but her father was strongly opposed. She didn't know what to do._

 _It was late at night. She'd been disturbed from her sleep by a strange noise, and now she couldn't fall asleep again. Deciding a drink of water would help, Nagisa got out of bed and headed for her door. The house seemed a little too quiet, even for the middle of the night. Making her way down to the kitchen regardless, Nagisa headed straight for the sink. Grabbing a glass and holding under the faucet, she pressed the button on the tap._

 _The faucet sputtered, but didn't produce any water. Nagisa tried again, got the same results, and gave a heavy sigh. She tried again and again, suddenly feeling more thirsty than she thought possible. On the sixth try, the faucet started shaking. It felt a bit like water was trying to move through the pipes, but she was getting wary of the whole situation._

 _Then it came out of the faucet, spraying into the sink and quickly back up in her face. It wasn't water, but a white gas. She had inhaled the gas before even realizing what was going on, and only managed a few steps before collapsing. Everything went black._

* * *

Nagisa blinked her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. She was laying on her chest, her head turned to the right. Closing her eyes again, she groaned painfully and pushed herself up. Looking around, she determined very quickly that she was no longer in her home. The small room had walls of metal plating, and in the middle of one wall there was what looked like sliding double doors, with a control panel on its right. On either side of the room was a railing in front of a panel with buttons numbered one to nine. The one on her left had a picture of an infant over it, and the other had a similar picture showing an elderly person with a cane.

In the back corners she saw a fire extinguisher and a metal case with a picture of a fire extinguisher on the front. Over the case was what seemed to be instructions for the fire extinguisher. There was also a poster on the wall with various pictures of people of all ages on it. There was some huge red machine across from the door with a screen on the front and cables attaching it to the wall. Looking up, she saw several electric lights set into a ceiling of metal grating. There was a big round hatch in the center of the ceiling with a wheel on it.

And then there was the other girl slumped against the wall behind the machine at what Nagisa had decided was the back of the room. This other girl let out a long sigh, not even looking up or acknowledging Nagisa's presence.

Walking over to the door, Nagisa knocked on it with her hand. "Is this… an elevator?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Turning back to the other girl, Nagisa asked, "Where are we?"

The girl shrugged. "In big trouble. That's all I got."

"Oh." Nagisa looked around for a moment longer before finding another question. "What's your name?"

The girl fiddled with her wrist idly. "I'm Makoto."

"It's nice to meet you, Makoto." Of course, under the circumstances, that was mostly only true in that she was glad to not be alone or trapped with someone scary. Makoto looked more scared than Nagisa felt, which made her feel better in an odd way.

Makoto, on the other hand, didn't seem to think there was terribly much nice about it. She made a sound half way between a sigh and a grunt, and then continued fiddling with her wrist. Nagisa noticed Makoto was wearing some sort of watch on her left wrist. There was nothing else, as far as she could tell, that she had to busy herself with, so she decided to inquire.

"That looks nice. Is it a watch or a bracelet?"

Makoto looked up at her for the first time. "What?" Nagisa simply pointed at her wrist. Following her finger, Makoto realized what she was talking about. "Oh… I don't know. It was there when I woke up, and I can't get it off. …You have one too."

Nagisa looked at her right arm, then at her left arm. Sure enough, though she hadn't even noticed, there was one just like Makoto's in every way. "Someone… must have put them on us."

Makoto sighed. "Most likely. Maybe the same person who kidnapped us and put us in here. There's just two buttons on it, but I pressed them and nothing happened."

Nagisa watched the watch for several seconds, seeing that nothing was changing on the display. "It just says… the number three and the word 'pair' in green text. What does that mean?"

Makoto shrugged. "I suppose it's too much to hope that it means we get three pears as a prize when we figure out how to escape from here."

Interrupting them, a deep voice echoed around the room seemingly from nowhere. " **Welcome, contestants. Participants in the seventy-seventh annual Nonary Game. You will notice that you are inside an elevator. You have been given only a limited amount of time to escape before the elevator is dropped, with you inside. Good luck."**

Nagisa and Makoto exchanged shocked looks. "WHAT?!"

While Makoto started panicking and running around the room helplessly, Nagisa was looking around frantically. Clearly, there was supposed to be some way to escape, but she had no idea what it was supposed to be. Were they expected to try and open the door or escape through the hatch above them? Was there a button to open the door, or were they supposed to bash it down somehow?

In her panic, Makoto bumped into one of the railings, knocking the end loose. Nagisa gasped.

Hearing the gasp, Makoto stopped. "What is it? Is something wrong? What happened?"

"No, it's not that!" Nagisa pointed to the railing. "Look, it's loose. Look at it. Doesn't it seem strange?"

Makoto observed the railing, desperate for anything to calm herself down. "It… the railing is made of metal, but the ends are colored plastic."

Nagisa nodded, looking over the other end, and then at the other railing. "Green, red, blue, and yellow. It's a color code, I think."

Grabbing the loose handle, Makoto pulled it out. "H-hey! It's not a handle at all! Well, uh, actually, it is, but it's a screwdriver handle! They're screwdrivers! But… wait, what does that mean?"

Nagisa moved over to the other railing. "It means we can get out of here. Get the other one. I'll get these two out and then we'll look for anywhere with screws we might be able to work with."

Quickly getting the red and blue handles out of their places, Nagisa rejoined Makoto with the green and yellow ones. They quickly set about scouring the room for screws. Makoto spent most of her time investigating the big red machine, trying to find a way to get into it. Nagisa moved over to the control panel beside the door. Kneeling down, she found herself eye-level with a metal grate.

"I think…" She called over to Makoto. "I think this is it! There are colored screws on here!" Makoto joined her, and they quickly realized they had a problem.

Makoto verbalized both their thoughts. "These screwdrivers don't work. Why… why would they give us broken useless screwdrivers?"

Nagisa looked over the blue one. "I think… I think it needs something on the end. We might be able to find them if we look around some more."

Makoto turned to look at the fire extinguisher case in the corner. "I might know where to look." Heading over to the fire extinguisher in the other corner, she put her hands on the top. "The picture above the case has weird instructions. It looks like it says to get a key from the fire extinguisher and use it to open the case. That doesn't make sense. Unless of course the fire extinguisher is fake and only really here for hiding the key."

Nagisa watched as Makoto pulled the pin from the extinguisher, revealing it to be a key. She went back over to the case and unlocked it with the key, smiling that she had figured something out. Inside the case was a package with the shapes of the handles, which were in fact socket wrenches and not screwdrivers. There were also four sockets designed to fit into the ends of the handles they had found.

Makoto took them and scurried back to the metal grate. "Okay, I get it. The green screw is a pentagon shape, so the green handle and the pentagon-shaped end go together. Blue is square. Red is hexagonal. Yellow is triangle…"

She put them all together accordingly, finding her way around it surprisingly fast. Nagisa found it difficult to get in and even see what Makoto was doing, and by the time she found a good angle Makoto was removing the last screw, which was in fact actually a bolt. Not that either of them knew the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench, or a screw and a bolt.

Makoto pulled the last bolt free and dropped the wrench, grabbing onto the grate and pulling at it until it came off. When it gave way, sending her falling onto her back, it revealed a compartment hidden in the control panel. Now able to get in, Nagisa reached into the compartment and pulled out the sole content.

Looking over it, she mused quietly. "It's… a game?"

Makoto hopped up, looking in at it. "A game?" It took her only a moment to identify it. "Oh, yeah, I know these. It's a slide game. You have to slide that green piece so that it falls through that hole. The pink ones get in the way, and they're too big to fit in the hole."

Nagisa handed it to Makoto. "I'm from a planet with entertainment restrictions. I haven't done anything like this before."

Makoto accepted the game. "Well, I can do it then. I'm from Naniwastar. It's completely free there." She stopped. "That means… if we're from different planets, then that means we could be anywhere. Whoever took us moved us away from our homes."

Nagisa got up. "I'll start looking for anything else we need to do while you figure this out."

Makoto went about quietly sorting out the slide puzzle by the control panel. Nagisa stepped back and looked over the rest of the room. They hadn't done anything with the two panels on the sides, with buttons numbered one through nine, and the panel by the door had numbered buttons as well, including a zero. Above the buttons was the picture of a rabbit. Reaching up, she pulled the poster down and looked at it. There was writing along the bottom.

Nagisa read the line out loud, trying to make sense of it. "'Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18.' What does that mean?" Turning the poster over in her hands, she found more written on the back. "'Try counting the number of babies and old people.' What? No, wait."

Flipping the poster over again, she looked over the pictures of people. Some were elderly, while others were infants. She counted seven elderly and four infants. Looking at the panels on the sides of the room, the answer came to her. Under the image of the elder, she pressed the button numbered seven. On the other side, she pressed the one marked with a four. Approaching the panel beside the door, she scrutinized the picture of the rabbit. There were no rabbits on the poster. She pressed the zero.

At the same time, Makoto solved the slide puzzle, and a green card popped out of the game. Nagisa saw a blue card pop out of a slot right beneath the rabbit image. They turned to each other, holding their respective cards.

Makoto frowned. "Well, uh… what do we do with them?"

Nagisa found the frown to be contagious. "I don't know."

Just as quickly, Makoto's mood brightened. "Wait, I saw slots in that machine where these should fit." She grabbed Nagisa's card and rushed over to the machine. By the time Nagisa caught up, Makoto had entered both cards into their respective slots, and a big screen on the machine was lit up bright green. Confused, Makoto exclaimed, "What does this mean?"

Nagisa looked at the screen. It showed only a three by three grid. Three of the spaces were occupied by a sun, a moon, and a star shape. "It's a pattern… or something."

Makoto knelt down. "That looks like the button on this thing."

Nagisa looked down at what Makoto was referring to, seeing what she had thought was another part of the big machine. Now that she looked closer, it looked more like a safe. "Ah, so that's a password?"

Makoto nodded. "Okay, I'll open it. Tell me what to put in."

Nagisa started to relay what was, in fact, a passcode and not a password. "Okay… the top right corner is a star. The bottom left is a moon. The middle left is a sun." She looked down again. "Did you get it?"

Makoto stood up, leaving the safe hanging open. She held up a key. "I mean, I think it worked. Now where does this go? We've run out of places to look."

Nagisa looked back at the control panel beside the door. "There's a keyhole over there."

Makoto nearly tripped over herself running over to the panel. She fumbled with the key before managing to get it in and turning it. Opening up, a small section of the panel revealed a red button surrounded by yellow and black stripes. Without hesitating, Makoto pushed the button.

With a loud metallic thud, the hatch on the ceiling swung out and open.


	2. Participants Of The Nonary Game

After climbing up on top of the red machine, and with a boost from Makoto, Nagisa had managed to grab hold of the edge of the open hatch. She climbed out and lay on her stomach, reaching down for Makoto. The other girl also climbed on top of the machine then jumped up and grabbed her arm. Nagisa gasped in pain and almost fell back in, but managed to hold on. She couldn't pull Makoto up, leaving it up to Makoto to climb up her arm. Once she had a grasp on something other than Nagisa's arm, Makoto finally managed to pull herself up and onto the top of the elevator.

They looked around for a moment, quickly realizing they were not in an elevator shaft but rather a large room like a warehouse. There were several other elevators all sitting on the floor side by side, not suspended even and inch in the air. Beyond the elevators, the room was largely empty save for three colored doors on one wall, and one large door painted with the number nine on another wall.

Nagisa sulked. "Don't tell me we're going to have to escape from here too."

Makoto stood up. "Hey… there are people over there."

Nagisa looked up, her mood brightening just a little. "Where?" Following Makoto's gaze, she saw four others standing in front of the elevator at the end of the row, in the corner. They were all girls like them. Only one mattered to Nagisa right then. "Orine!"

Makoto watched as Nagisa climbed over the side of the elevator, dropping down to the floor and running over to the other girls. One girl, with the fluffiest pink hair Makoto had ever seen, started running to meet Nagisa. They embraced, getting the attention of all the others very quickly. Makoto quietly followed, but was well aware that everyone had spotted her as well. She was surprised to see a fifth girl leaning up against the elevator in the corner, where she couldn't have seen from on top of the elevator.

Nagisa hugged her friend, glad she wasn't alone with strangers. "Orine, I'm so happy to see you!"

Orine was nearly starting to tear up. "Me too! I was really scared, but…" Breaking apart, Orine turned back to the others. "But Kanata helped me get through alright."

Nagisa blinked, looking over the four other strange girls. The fourth stranger, who she hadn't seen earlier from the elevator, wasn't exactly a stranger either. "Wait, is that…" She shook her head. "Um… who's Kanata?"

A red-haired girl with a messy ponytail waved to them. "That's me. Orine and I woke up in the same elevator. After we were told it was about to fall, she started freaking out. But now it looks like we had nothing to worry about."

Makoto finally stepped up to Nagisa's side. "What about the rest of you? Were you all in the same elevator?"

"Oh, no." One girl, who looked like the oldest of the group, smiled innocently. "We were each in a different one. I'm Mimori. I was in this one right here." She patted the elevator in the back corner, at the far right end of the row. "I was the first out, too. Chieri was next, and she came out of the one on the other end, and then Kanata and Orine came out of the one beside mine."

The girl leaning against the elevator sighed indignantly. "Right. I was the second out, and Kanata and Orine got out right after me."

The last girl adjusted her glasses. "And then me. I'm Suzuko. I was in the elevator two over from Chieri's, and right beside yours if I'm not mistaken."

Nagisa looked back at the elevator she and Makoto had come from. "Yeah, I think so. So the one me and Makoto were in was between Chieri's and Suzuko's. Right?"

Kanata nodded. "Exactly. And that means there's still one that nobody's come out of yet."

Chieri walked over to Nagisa and Makoto. "Show me your wrists."

Makoto held up her wrist without a question. "You're looking at the watches, right?"

Chieri nodded. "You too Nagisa. I think I might have figured something out." Nagisa held her arm out to be inspected. Chieri didn't take long looking between the two to confirm her suspicions. "They both say 'pair' and have the number three. And it's green."

Makoto took hers back, looking around at the others. "You all have them too?"

Kanata grinned, holding up her arm to show her bracelet. "Yeah. Mine and Orine's both say three and 'pair', but ours are blue."

Beside Kanata, Mimori showed hers as well. "Mine, Suzuko's, and Chieri's all say 'solo' instead of 'pair', because we were alone in our elevators. Mine is green just like yours."

Suzuko added, "Mine is blue."

Chieri held her arm out for Nagisa and Makoto to see. "And mine is red."

"Red?" Makoto shook her head. "But… no, wait… if yours is red, then… wait, no, I don't know what that means."

Kanata pointed at the unopened elevator. "It means this one, between the one Orine and I were in and the one Suzuko was in, has two people in it. The 'red pair', is my guess."

Suzuko knocked on the door. "Maybe it's empty."

Mimori pointed to the side of the door. "Look at that. It looks like one of those things that you swipe a card through."

Orine nodded. "Yes. All the doors have it. But we don't have any cards."

Though it had been meant as a simple observation, Orine's words caused all of them to stop and search through their pockets for any cards. None of them came back with anything, but Nagisa found it interesting to watch. Each of them were really nothing more than confused girls who only wanted to find out why they were here and to escape this place.

Then the hatch opened. Everyone was quiet, listening to the pair of voices that came from inside the last elevator.

"No, step up on that! Don't step there-ah! That's my face! Stop it! Get down!"

"Hey! You said I could go up first! Liar! Stop climbing! Liar! Liar! Liar! You were supposed to help me up first!"

Kanata groaned. "Oh, geez…"

Orine looked at Nagisa. "That sounded like Yuka."

The arguing voices continued.

"Fine, okay! Look, climb up and maybe we can get out."

"No! How do I know you won't drop me?"

"Why would I drop you?"

Chieri turned to Kanata. "Give me a lift. I can help them get out of there."

Kanata nodded. "Alright, Mimori, help me."

Together, they managed to hoist Chieri up onto the elevator. She then turned around and reached down. "Kanata, come on."

With a little help from Mimori, Kanata managed to grab onto Chieri's arm and climb up beside her. They then disappeared from everyone's view. A few moments passed before another girl stood up on top of the elevator. She was much younger than anyone else. Kanata guided her to the edge where Mimori was waiting.

"Chieri has the other one. Mimori, take care of my sister." Kanata then dropped the girl into Mimori's arms.

Mimori looked up at Kanata. "Your sister?"

The smaller girl grinned. "I'm Sonata."

Nagisa approached the two, speaking to Sonata. "You're Kanata's sister?"

Sonata shook her head. "No, Kanata is _my_ sister." She squirmed her way out of Mimori's arms. "Where are we? What's going on? What happened?"

On top of the elevator, a familiar girl with yellow pigtails appeared at the edge. "I hope someone knows how to get her to stop talking. She's been driving me crazy since she woke up."

Nagisa and Orine looked up and chorused together. "Yuka!"

Climbing down, Yuka landed between them. "Yup. I'm here to save the day. What happened? What's going on? Where are we?"

Dropping down beside Yuka, Chieri grabbed her wrist and inspected it. "Red pair. Just as I thought."

Pulling away, Yuka looked to Nagisa and Orine. "Is that…?"

Orine nodded. "It's Chieri."

Yuka sighed. "I don't suppose that's a coincidence."

Chieri shot her a glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Yuka looked about ready to give an angry response, but quickly calmed down. "That's not what I meant, Chieri. Think about it. We met you once, years ago. Now, someone has kidnapped us _and_ you. Out of all the girls they could have gotten, how'd they choose us _and_ you?"

Chieri blinked, surprised. "Kidnapped… that's right… we were…"

Kanata landed beside her. She brushed off her hands and looked between Yuka and Chieri. "Huh? You all got hit by that white gas too?"

Yuka shook her head. "I went to sleep in my bed and woke up in this… non-elevator. So maybe, but I wasn't awake for it."

Orine nervously turned to Nagisa. "Um… white gas?"

Sonata jumped up between them. "I bet it was nighttime on your planet when you got got."

Kanata grabbed the back of Sonata's shirt and pulled her back. "That's not how planets work."

Instead of waiting for the opportune moment when everyone else was quiet, Nagisa decided it was best that she just interject. "I was awake."

Yuka and Kanata turned to her at the same time. "You were?" "Really?"

She shuffled her feet. "Well… I was in the kitchen because I was thirsty, but the water wasn't working. Then that… white gas came out of the tap instead. I couldn't stay awake after that."

Chieri nodded. "Yeah, it knocked you out. They got me with it too. I think it came from the ventilation in my room, but by the time I noticed there was so much it was hard to tell."

"You weren't sleeping?" Orine sounded concerned.

Chieri rolled her eyes. "It was the middle of the day. I was… er, practicing."

Mimori suddenly seemed really interested. "Practicing? What were you practicing?"

Chieri backed away from the older girl. "What? Why is that important? It's none of your business. A-anyway, why are we focusing on me? What about you?"

Suzuko smiled knowingly. "Mimori and Kanata were likely kidnapped together on Akibastar, as they are AKB0048's only remaining seventy-fifth generation trainees. It makes sense that they were likely in the same room when it happened."

Kanata was taken aback. "Wait, you recognize us?"

Suzuko adjusted her glasses. "As AKB's number one fan, it is my duty."

Chieri glanced over at Sonata. "Kanata, if you were with Mimori, then how did your sister get here?"

Sonata grinned. "I was on my way to audition for AKB0048 when, suddenly, a mysterious white cloud appeared in the ship's electrical maintenance compartment I was hiding in. Then I fell asleep."

"Amazing." was all Kanata could say.

Yuka turned on the younger girl. "What were you doing in a ship's electrical maintenance compartment? And aren't you a bit young to join AKB?"

Before Yuka could get an answer, Orine interrupted. "We were going to audition as well. What a coincidence!"

Makoto pointed dramatically at Orine. "You were auditioning too?"

Chieri scowled. "Figures. We all… Suzuko, were you going to audition as well?"

Suzuko nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes."

Chieri took a deep breath. "…uh oh." She looked at everyone gathered around her for a moment. "I think I know what we all have in common. We all want to be in AKB0048."

Sonata started absentmindedly listing off other similarities between them. "We're all girls. We've all been kidnapped. We're all underage."

Kanata cut her off. "You're the only one here who's underage."

Sonata pointed accusingly at her sister. "You're only fifteen!"

Makoto shouted in surprise. "You're only fifteen!? I thought for sure you were, like, eighteen or something! _I'm_ sixteen!"

Yuka eyed Kanata suspiciously. "I'm pretty sure the rest of us are younger than you, so… please tell me that doesn't give _her_ seniority."

Mimori raised her hand. "I'm seventeen."

Sonata moved her pointed finger over to Mimori with a sweeping motion. "That's still underage on a lot of planets!"

Kanata clamped her hand over her sister's mouth. "That's enough. No one kidnaps girls because they're underage." There was an uncomfortable silence among them. "Okay. That came out wrong. What I mean is… well, Chieri's right, essentially. There's only one reason I can see that anyone would go to this much trouble for us all. It has to have something to do with AKB0048. Maybe the DES or someone with similar beliefs. You understand what I mean?"

The silence that followed was uneasy. Each girl took a moment to truly contemplate where they were and why, each coming to their own terrifying conclusions. These conclusions ranged from a vague concept of bad guys to one particularly overdone impression of gigantic space aliens. None of them were prepared for what happened next.

Mimori's hand shot up in the air. "I'm in charge! Seniority!"

Kanata facepalmed.


	3. Rules Of The Nonary Game

" **Contestants of the seventy-seventh annual Nonary Game. You have twenty minutes to familiarize yourself with the rules of the game, as displayed on the wall next to the Number Nine Door. Good luck.** "

All the girls were looking up at the ceiling, trying to find the source of the voice, but there was nothing to give any hint. Not even any visible speakers. Kanata was the first to shake it off and head away. She walked over to the Number Nine Door, grabbing her sister and dragging her along. It was Sonata's protests that caught the attention of everyone else. Realizing where she was headed, the others quickly followed.

Kanata quickly found a section on the wall where a small projector was making an image containing text. She read a few lines into it before turning back to the others and pointing at Suzuko. "You think you can analyze these rules and explain them to us? We don't have the time for everyone to read them."

Suzuko stepped forward, adjusting her glasses as she took a close look at the displayed rules. "Hmm… yes, I think I understand. First thing it says is that at the end of the twenty minutes we've been given, those colored doors, which it calls Chromatic Doors, will open. They'll be open for five minutes, and we have to go through them in groups of three. Only three people per door. It won't allow more or less. Each group has to consist of a Pair and a Solo."

Kanata interrupted. "Wait, does that mean I can't go with Sonata?"

Suzuko nodded. "Indeed. She has to go with Yuka, and you have to go with Orine. Nagisa and Makoto have to be together as well."

Makoto squinted at her. "Can you rephrase that, just a little."

Ignoring her completely, Suzuko continued to explain the rules as she read them. "That means the Solos have to each go with a different couple. The colors are important in deciding who goes with who. To get through any of the Chromatic Doors, you have to make the right group. Say, the Yellow Door, if Chieri wanted to go through the Yellow Door, she is the Red Solo so she would have to mix red with green, plus she can't just go with the Green Solo because there wouldn't be enough people. She would have to team up with the Green Pair, Nagisa and Makoto, but then only two other feasible combinations can be made. By going through the Yellow Door with the Green Pair, Chieri would be forcing the decision on the rest of us. I would have to go with Yuka and Sonata through the Cyan Door, and Mimori would have to go with Kanata and Orine through the Magenta Door. Do you understand?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Suzuko sighed. "If Chieri goes with the Green Pair, then neither of the other Solos can go with them. To go through the Cyan Door, as the Blue Solo, I would need the Green Pair. The rules state that the third option is for a Pair and Solo of the same color to go through the opposite colored door. As such, Mimori would need the Green Pair in order to go through the Magenta Door."

Chieri waved her hands, bringing Suzuko to stop. "Just lay it out for us. What are our options?"

Suzuko took a deep breath and began to lay it out, as requested. "Option one: I go with Nagisa and Makoto through the Cyan Door, Kanata and Orine go with Chieri through the Magenta Door, and Yuka and Sonata go with Mimori through the Yellow Door."

Sonata piped up. "Is there an option where I don't have to go with Yuka?"

Kanata shook her head. "No. You're a pair. But I trust Mimori to take care of you. I like this option."

Suzuko continued. "Option two: I go with Sonata and Yuka through the Magenta Door, Kanata and Orine go with Mimori through the Cyan Door, and Nagisa and Makoto go with Chieri through the Yellow Door."

Nagisa cheered. "I'd like to go with Chieri."

Chieri frowned. "Why?"

Kanata stuck her tongue out. "As much as I like Mimori, that sounds like a little too much pink all at once."

"And the third option," Suzuko waited for everyone to settle down again. "Option three: Kanata, Orine, and I go through the Yellow Door, Nagisa and Makoto go with Mimori through the Magenta Door, and Chieri goes with Yuka and Sonata through the Cyan Door."

Sonata rolled her eyes. "Great. I get the team with _personality_."

Yuka stomped the floor next to Sonata. "Quiet, you."

Mimori stepped closer to the display. "Is that all it says?"

Suzuko nodded. "It says the rest of the rules will be given to us once they're relevant. Later parts of the game have their own rules and supplementary rules we don't need to worry about yet. It does, however, say that the goal of the game is to escape through the Number Nine Door, which you cannot do until you've reached nine points. The points are recorded on our bracelets, so at the moment we all have just three. It doesn't say how to gain points, though."

"Maybe…" Orine looked at the Chromatic Doors. "Maybe we'll find out how to get points when we go through those."

Makoto lit up. "Maybe we get points for beating games!"

Kanata looked down at her bracelet. "We started with three, and we just need six more. It can't be that easy. Plus, why bother starting us above zero unless we can lose points."

Suzuko pointed at the rules. "Yes. There is also some sort of penalty if your points reach zero. It doesn't say what, but…"

Chieri finished the thought. "It would be best that we never find out."

Suzuko stepped away from the rules, indicating that she had read all the information. "It also says penalties will be given to anyone who violates the rules of the game. For example, when the Chromatic Doors open, they will close again after five minutes. Anyone remaining outside will be penalized, and as a result, the group they were with will be unable to go through the door, causing them to be penalized as well."

Mimori bounced, surprisingly happy with her situation. "So that means we have to count on each other, just like we would on stage! We have to bond together and grow strong as friends! First things first, Pairs must link arms so they don't get separated!"

As Orine grabbed her arm obediently, Kanata looked to Mimori. "Bit much, don't you think?"

Mimori smiled knowingly. "Seniority. I'm in charge." Nagisa linked arms with Makoto, and Sonata linked with Yuka. Mimori clapped her hands together. "Wonderful. Now we need to figure out which groups we're going in. Anyone have any preferences?"

Kanata raised her free hand. "Yeah. I like the first option. I trust you to take care of my sister."

Chieri crossed her arms. "Does that mean you don't trust me or Suzuko?"

"No, I just…" Kanata looked down. "It doesn't really matter. Just so long as someone's looking out for her."

Mimori clapped her hands as a call to attention. "We need a vote! Personally, I don't mind any of the choices."

Yuka made a dissatisfied face. "You call a vote and then don't vote?"

"Well, of course I would love to be with Kanata, and I would also like to get to know her sister." She looked over at Nagisa and Makoto. "But you two are just so adorable, I would love to be with you as well!"

Nagisa smiled. "I think I'm fine with any of the choices. I mean, I'd like to be with my friends, but since I can't go with Yuka or Orine, I'd like to be with Chieri. I'm fine with the other choices too, though."

Sonata shrugged. "Apparently I don't get to be with my sister, so I don't care."

Kanata groaned. "Okay, does anyone actually care who they go with?"

Adjusting her glasses, Suzuko let out a sigh. "Not particularly."

Orine added, "I don't mind either."

Mimori looked to the three girls remaining. "Yuka? Chieri? Makoto? What do you think?"

"I don't really care." Yuka and Chieri glanced at each other after speaking the exact same words.

All eyes turned toward Makoto, who was the only one yet to weigh in with an opinion of neutrality. Nagisa patted her partner on the shoulder, silently conveying the message that it was all up to her now. She had to decide, essentially, if she wanted to be with Chieri, Mimori, or Suzuko. Makoto wasn't sure she really wanted that decision to be hers.

Makoto looked back at Nagisa. "Why can't you decide?"  
"What? Me?" Nagisa shook her head. "No way. I couldn't make that kind of decision."

"And you think I can?" Seeing she wasn't going to be getting a response, Makoto sighed loudly. "Well… I suppose… we'll go with… uh, Suzuko!"

Suddenly, the three Chromatic Doors opened. They all stared silently at the open doors for a moment.

A moment that was shattered by Sonata. "Aaah! I've completely forgotten what the teams are!"

Yuka, who was still locked arms with the youngest girl in the group, shook her partner. "You're with me and… um… who are we with?"

Mimori appeared behind them, hugging them both and sandwiching them against her large chest. "We're going to be on a team together!" She nuzzled her cheek against Sonata's. "I hope we can get to know each other really well!"

Suzuko nodded. "And that means you're going through the Yellow Door."

Chieri stepped over to Kanata and Orine. "That means we're going in the Magenta Door."

"Okay, but first," Kanata separated from Orine and walked over to Mimori. "I'm counting on you to take care of my sister. She shouldn't have tried to apply to AKB0048 in the first place, but now that she's here and I can't be with her, you need to look after her for me."

Mimori pumped her fist into the air. "Yeah! We'll all look after each other!"

"So…" Nagisa turned to Suzuko. "What door are we going through?"

Suzuko pointed at the Cyan Door. "That one right there. We should go right now so we don't have to rush at the last second."

Nagisa took a deep breath. "Orine! Yuka! Chieri! Good luck, you guys! We'll see you again after!"

Orine waved from the Magenta Door. "Take care!"

Yuka cupped her hands over her mouth. "Don't keep us waiting too long!"

The three groups entered their separate doors, where they found a tiny room with another door at the opposite end. When the Chromatic Doors closed, they would be trapped unless the other doors opened. Nagisa and Makoto were both having second thoughts. Suzuko may have been as nervous as they were, but she didn't show it.

Inside the Yellow Door, Sonata and Yuka were also starting to get nervous, but Mimori's confidence was calming for both of them. Inside the Magenta Door, Kanata was more nervous about her sister than for herself. Orine was worried, but the strong presence of the other two girls was enough to reassure her. Chieri was determined to get through to the other side and find out why they were trapped in this strange place.

The doors closed, cutting them all off from the others. It was dark between the doors. Nagisa felt Makoto squeezing her arm tighter, and it was starting to hurt. She was about to say something when a bright light swept down from the ceiling and scanned over them. There was a quick chime, and the other door opened.

The three of them peered into the new room, trying to figure out what they were looking at. Suzuko stepped out and turned back to them.

"Let's go. We've got another puzzle to work on."

Nagisa took a step forward, then stopped. "Um… Makoto? Can you let go now?"


End file.
